Whip Hand

Sid Halley, who rode as a champion steeplechase jockey in an earlier Dick Francis, Odds Against (and who will be starring in several Mystery episodes on public television this spring), is back. But because he injured an arm in a racing accident, and now has a bionic hand, he has become a private investigator—and a much-sought-after one at that.

Jenny, his wife, who deserted him after the accident, has got herself mixed up with a notorious man and a phony charity. Her father, Charles, whom Sid continues to value above all men, has asked him to clear Jenny's name. Meanwhile, he has also been asked to find out who or what is responsible for the crippling and deadly ailments that have been disabling a rich horse owner's stable. Then Sid finds himself having to contend with certain members of an underworld syndicate, and the Director of Security for the Jockey Club wants him to uncover suspected corruption within its ranks.

Sid, crippled as he Is, is very capable, though he is sorely tried, and at one point he finds himself literally in flight—aboard a hot-air balloon navigated by a reputed madman whose addiction to risk-taking rivals Sid's own.

Whip Hand Is a finely crafted, swiftly moving tale of detection. It is also the story of a failed marriage, whose partners are full of need but can no longer connect with one another, and a perceptive study—in spare, razor-sharp prose—of a fearless, incorruptible man who is the victim of his was capacity to endure pain and loss. One of Dick Francis's most remarkable and readable novels.